1. In the 1920s and 1930s, totalitarian dictators came to power
Promise jobs, economic prosperity and pride in your country (nationalism)
Controlled all aspects of the nation by getting rid of rivals, ending liberties, and using censorship & secret police

2. Fascists did not offer democracy and used one party to rule the nation
In Italy, Germany, and Spain, people turned to an extremely nationalist gov’t called fascism
Fascist governments were controlled by dictators who demanded loyalty from citizens
Fascists did not offer democracy and used one party to rule the nation
Unlike Communists, fascists believed people could keep their property

3. Italy = Benito Mussolini
Promised to: revive the economy, rebuild the military, and create a new Roman Empire
Mussolini’s “march on Rome”
The “Blackshirts”

4. Germany = Adolf Hitler & the Nazi Party
Hitler’s Mein Kampf outlined his plans for Germany
Germans were the “master race”
Non-Aryans were inferior
German was running out of space and needed to take land in Europe - lebensraum (living space)
The Treaty of Versailles was unfair and should be ignored

5. In 1933, Hitler was elected chancellor (prime minister) of Germany

6. He created SS (military police) and the Gestapo (secret police) to eliminate rivals and control all aspects of Germany

7. In 1935, Hitler began limiting the rights of Jews
Nuremburg Laws  (1) German Jews are no longer citizens, (2) Jews could not marry anyone that is not Jewish, (3) Jews had to wear a yellow star
1938  Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) was a direct and violent attack on Jewish synagogues and businesses

8. Japan = military dictatorship  Hideki Tojo (Emperor Hirohito)
Japan wanted to expand into China for raw materials to help with industrialization

9. In the 1930s, Japan, Italy, and Germany began aggressively expanding in Africa, Asia, and Europe

10. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and mainland China in 1937

11. Ethiopian soldiers defending their country from the Italian military
In 1935, Mussolini began his campaign to create an Italian Empire by invading Ethiopia
Ethiopian soldiers defending their country from the Italian military
The League of Nations condemned Japan and Italy but did nothing to stop the attacks in order to maintain world peace

12. The failure of the League of Nations to stop Italy or Japan, encouraged Hitler to expand Germany too
1936  Rhineland
1938  Austria
1938  Sudetenland
1939  Czechoslovakia

13. At the Munich Conference, 1938
The League of Nations used appeasement to avoid war with Germany, Italy, and Japan
Hitler
Mussolini
Chamberlain
At the Munich Conference, 1938

14. 1939  Hitler wanted Poland but did not want war with Russia
Stalin and Hitler agreed to the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in August, 1939
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland
On September 3, 1939, Britain and France declared war on the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and World War II began

15. …the Axis Powers seized North Africa
When World War II began, German blitzkrieg tactics led to the conquest of Poland, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France, the Balkans
…the Axis Powers seized North Africa

16. In 1941, Hitler broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact and invaded the Soviet Union

17. By 1941, Germany and Italy controlled most of Europe and North Africa
Meanwhile, Japan conquered new territories in Asia and threatened Guam and the Philippines